A Kuwaiti man was briefly arrested after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber at a shopping mall. People notified the police about the suspicious looking man after they thought he was carrying an explosive belt and planning to blow himself up in the middle of the crowd at the mall in Hawalli, one of the country’s six governorates.

However, when the police stopped the man and searched him, they discovered that he was wearing a training vest loaded with weights for added resistance when walking or running.

The vest was carefully removed and searched by the security forces looking for explosives and a detonator.

Witnesses said that the man’s heavily padded vest and his suspicious activities triggered their concern and prompted them to notify the police.

A security source told Kuwaiti daily Al Anba that the police dealt with the man “in a professional manner and without causing any chaos.”

The suspect was taken to a police station for further investigations, the source said.

In June last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Kuwait city, killing 27 worshippers.

Kuwaitis have been on the lookout for possible other attacks by suicide bombers targeting mosques and crowded places.